Like all states, Pennsylvania must redesign its health care infrastructure regardless of whether it expands Medicaid. There is no reason that the expansion could not take effect in January 2014 if policymakers allocate the federal dollars in the 2013-14 budget. Read a fact sheet about the expansion in Pennsylvania.

It will help to move Pennsylvania and the nation from a system that is riddled with coverage gaps, where individuals get necessary health care at the last minute and at the highest cost to themselves and health care institutions, to one which emphasizes health, wellness and prevention," Sharon Ward testified before the House Human Services Committee.

The governor’s budget does little to reduce the trend of disinvestment in Pennsylvania schools and communities. It relies heavily on speculative and one-time sources of funding, and proposes expensive new corporate tax breaks that will continue to shift costs to local taxpayers. Read PBPC's media statement.

Income gaps widened in Pennsylvania between the late 1990s and the mid-2000s with earnings for low-income families dropping as the income of the wealthiest continued to increase, according to a new study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute.

New Census data show that poverty rates remained high in Pennsylvania last year. The state's uninsured rate showed little change from 2010 to 2011, although Pennsylvania continues to have a lower uninsured rate than the nation as a whole.

New Census data offer a mix of good and bad news. The share of Americans without health insurance declined, but the middle class continues to struggle in the wake of the recession and the acceleration of income inequality.